Worked by Albert Paley, metal appears as supple as cloth, as fluid as a calligraphic line drawn lightly with a brush, or as malleable as a potter’s clay. In Presentation table: between the shadows, handfuls of wide ribbons seem to be gathered together with golden spheres and looped around tautly twisted vertical legs, which in turn find resolution in sinuous coils of metal. Traces of Paley’s initial studies in goldsmithing remain in the nuances of details, as the elements meet and intertwine. His virtuosity makes these complex lyrical and formal gestures appear almost effortless. Technically and intellectually, he continually pushes the boundaries of what is thought possible with iron and steel, in works ranging from objects of large, even heroic, public scale, to door handles, candlesticks and this table. Tables, of course, bear their own metaphors as sites of labour, but also as vehicles for rituals of offering, sacrifice, dining and display. Paley’s Presentation table suggests an act of celebration. EKB